More CHS debaters going to nationals

April 25, 2007|From staff reports

A total of 11 Aberdeen Central students have qualified for this summer's national debate tournament, which is a Central school record. The last two students earning trips are seniors Andrew Mach and Chelsie Pavlicek, who qualified April 13-14 at the state Congressional Debate tournament in Pierre. Nine members of the Central debate program qualified for nationals in February. Central's previous record of nine qualifiers was set in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The national tourney is June 18-22 in Wichita, Kan. Congressional Debate - formerly called Student Congress - is a debate event in which the students learn and practice parliamentary procedure while debating student-written bills and resolutions. It is designed to showcase a real-world application of debate and public speaking skills. Mach and Pavlicek will be making their first trip to the national tournament. Central also had two students fall just one place short of national qualification. Junior John Boggs and senior Kelsey Holkesvik each fell one place short in their respective houses of earning berths in the tournament as well. “We're so thrilled for Andrew and Chelsie. They worked very hard and things fell in place for them (last) weekend,” said Central head coach Jon Frey. “On the other hand, our hearts break for Kelsey because she came up just a tad short. Everyone knows how hard she worked and knows how much she deserved to qualify.” In going to nationals, Mach and Pavlicek join fellow Central students Sam Merkel, Jeremy Simon, Kirsten Kimbler, Robert Berry, Melanie Zinter, Katie Gallup, Lorien Downing, Paul Pierson and Nisha Giridhar. Honored on April 14 at the South Dakota Forensic Coaches' Association banquet were two Central seniors and one coach. Merkel, a senior, was awarded a D.C. Reutter Award, named for Hall of Fame coach D.C. “Doc” Reutter, a longtime Huron debate coach. There are four of these awards and they honor the top policy debaters in the state of South Dakota. Debaters statewide vote on the recipients of these honors. Zinter, also a senior, was awarded a Karl Mundt Award, named for a former South Dakota senator and co-founder of the National Forensic League. The Mundt award honors the top Lincoln-Douglas debaters in the state. Like the Reutter, there are four of these awarded by a vote of the debate community. “Sam and Melanie deserved these honors so much. They are tremendous competitors and are highly respected by their peers,” Frey said. Central assistant debate coach Colleen Meisenheimer was honored with her second Assistant Coach of the Year award in the past five years. “Colleen is our extemp coach and the extempers of this team were so strong all year that I knew she was a shoo-in for the award,” Frey said.